Love Never Fails
by Michaela123
Summary: When a case brought up painful memories, David threw away all that he never knew he had. Will he ever be able to win it all back?
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay, so I have about six different stories that I am trying to write, and have been trying to write for about three months. So far, I have got no where, so I thought I would take an idea from one of my old stories, rewrite and put a new spin on it, hopefully it'll be better this time. I am more comfortable in writing so I really do hope so! Got to say a big thank you to Tracia for pushing me to write! I don't think it would have happened otherwise! It might take a while to get into it, and there will be some flash backs, but other than that, I hope you like!**_

_**  
P.S. I know this chapter goes around in circles slightly…but after this one, it'll get going!**_

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_"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." _

_ - I Corinthians 13:4-8_

It has been six months since she had last seen him. Six long and painful months as her heart slowly crumbled. Six months where she had had to pull herself back up from a place she never thought that she would recover. She could still remember the way his arms felt around her as she slowly fell to sleep. The way his voice sounded when he told her that he loved her. And she could still remember the tears she cried when she realised he was gone.

Well, he had been gone. Until thirty seconds ago, she wasn't even sure if he was still alive, but now he was standing right in front of her, his eyes wide as saucers as he took in her appearance.

If someone had told her that she was dreaming, she would have believed them. There was no way that he could just suddenly reappear. It wasn't fair. How was she supposed to cope with this?

"Em-" He started, taking a step forward, reaching for her as he did.

"Don't. Don't you dare, Dave!" Emily snapped, holding her hand up to stop him. "You don't get to do that! You don't get to come here and act like nothing has happened. Not after six months! Sorry. No. You don't get to do that!"

"Please, Emmy…just let me explain."

"David, _no_!" Emily hissed, as she took a step forward. Before she knew it, her hand connected with his jaw. The snap echoed around the room, as Emily took a steadying breath. "Don't you dare call me Emmy. You lost that they day you took off!"

Letting his eyes travel down the length of her body , David sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry…God, Emily. I'm so sorry." Dragging his hand down his face, he let out a sigh. "If I had known…if I had any idea…why didn't you tell me?"

"When exactly was I supposed to tell you? When you were creeping in my bed, or out? Or I don't know, when I had _absolutely_ no way of contacting you even though you seemed to think that you loved me?"

"Please don't, Emily. Just let me explain. You don't understand…" David begged.

"You don't have the right to tell me what to do! There is nothing that you can say that will explain to me why you crept out of my bed in the middle of the night! You waltzed out of my life six months ago without so much as a goodbye or see you later! So no, I don't understand. Why the hell would I!"

"After the Schuller case, I was broken, Emily. I knew if I stayed it would break you too and I couldn't do that. I couldn't drag you down into the dark place I was in. That wouldn't have been fair for you."

"Am I just supposed to accept that? Take you back with open arms? You left me in the middle of the night. Can you imagine how that felt? I had to deal with the looks from the team. I had to go to work everyday and know that the whole freaking FBI was talking behind my back. Feeling sorry for me, because I fell for the legendary David Rossi ploy, and you think that pitiful excuse for an apology makes up for it?"

"Please Emily, just give me another chance…" Letting his eyes travel to her rounded stomach, he lowered his voice. "I didn't realise how much I was throwing away." 

"No you didn't, but you think that means I should give you another chance? Nothing you can say can make up for the months of pain that you put me through!" Emily snapped, forcing back a sob. "If you hadn't wanted me…I would never have stopped you from leaving…it would have hurt…but no way as much as this did."

"Emily please…we can make this work!"

"No, I don't think we can." Emily argued

"You are carrying my baby, Emily."

"No!" Emily snapped, her arms protectively curling around the bump of her unborn child. "This is _my_ baby. This will never, and I mean, never be your baby." Taking a deep, steadying breath, Emily looked up at David as an uneasy calm came down across her. "You say that you left so that you wouldn't break me, well, you broke me anyway."

"You don't mean that Emily." David hissed, his eyes growing cloudy as he looked at her.

"Don't I? How could you possibly know that." Emily scoffed, suppressing a sarcasm filled laugh.

"Because I know you and we were good together."

"Were being the operative word. What we had is in the past. I have changed. And yeah, maybe if it was me I would give you another chance, but it isn't. I have to think about my child's life and there is no room for you in it."

"Please, Emily." David whispered. "Don't make me beg…if I had known…if I had had any idea that you were pregnant…"

"It doesn't work like that, David." Emily interrupted, shielding her stomach from him in a bid to protect her child. "Do you think that I would have wanted you to stay with me because I am pregnant? I'm not weak, David and I don't need you. I think it is time for you to leave."

"Emily…no."

"Just go!" Emily snapped.

Taking in her agitated state, David took a step back. He didn't want to upset her. He didn't want to cause their child any distress. "Fine, I'll leave, but this isn't over Emily. I am going to make this up to you, Emily. I promise."

Walking out of her condo, David felt his heart break as her sobs floated through the otherwise quiet corridor. In that moment, he knew that he had to make everything alright. If it was the last thing he ever did.

_**************_

_**Like I said at the beginning, this chapter goes around in circles a little…sorry! This story should hopefully be updated every few days, but I am going to try and get a new Hotch/Prentiss one up soon too!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**First up SORRY SORRY SORRY! I thought I had posted this, but only realised I hadn't when I was away for the weekend. Without the file!**_

_**I actually wrote this completely different to start with…however, I didn't like it in the least, and I didn't think that it flowed right, so I wrote it all again! Anyway, I hope you like it! I kind of know *where* I want this story to go, but I can't get it there! Gah! Any plot ideas will be greatly welcomed! I'm not happy with this chapter!**_

Letting himself into his hotel room twenty minutes later, Dave immediately made his way over to the hotel mini bar. Grabbing the miniature bottle of whisky out of the fridge, he collapsed down onto the sofa.

How had he screwed everything up so much?

Leaning forward, David held his head in his hands. What on earth had he done? She was the center of his world, and because he had been too pig headed to admit that he needed help…that he had been hurting. Maybe if he had, then he wouldn't be in this situation now. Maybe he would have been able to spare himself the harrowing pain of being away from Emily.

Maybe he wouldn't be facing a life where he didn't get to see his child.

He couldn't get the look in Emily's eyes out of his mind. They had been dark…empty. He hated knowing that he had been the one to cause her that. The only way he had made it through each day was knowing it was for the best. That he was saving her from a world of pain…and yet by doing that he had caused her another.

Looking around the darkened hotel room, he knew he needed help. He just hoped to God they would listen to him before they knocked him down.

"Dave." Hotch murmured, his expression never changing. "How nice of you to finally make a reappearance."

"Aaron, please. I…" David started, his words floundering. He really didn't know what he could say to make this any better.

"Just come inside. This isn't a conversation to have in the hallway. And I don't want you waking JJ or the kids." Walking over the couch, Aaron sat down, motioning at Dave to follow. "So tell me, have you gone to see Emily yet? The woman you professed to love?"

"I have…Christ, Aaron. I didn't know."

"Maybe if you hadn't acted in your usual jackass behaviour, you would have." Hotch quipped, reaching forward for his drink.

"I was in a bad place, Aaron. I couldn't drag Emily down into that dark place. She was my light and she needed to stay that way…but…God…tonight she was so…broken"

"She has had a lot to deal with over the past couple of months, I think she has a reason to be that way."

"How is she? With the…pregnancy? When is the baby due? Do you know if it's a girl or a boy?"

"She is okay. I think the pregnancy gave her something to focus on when you…when you went away. The pregnancy has been hard on her, but you know Prentiss. She is determined to carry on working, and for the much part, she has been able to. She is due on the 13th of July, and yes, she knows the sex, but I don't think that is my place to divulge." 

"Shit, Aaron, I've really screwed this up. I…I never meant for this to happen. I just couldn't see any other way to get through. The case…"

"I know, Dave. Did you never think that talking things through with her may have helped?"

"You know me…my brain isn't wired properly. I didn't think before I acted. If I had…I would never have gone. I would have realised how much of a good thing I had." Running his hand through his dark hair, David sighed. "I need her back, Aaron. I need your help."

"Dave, I don't think-"

"Aaron?" A female voice interrupted, floating in from the hallway. "What's going on…what is he doing here?"

"From what I can gather, he is trying to make amends." Hotch spoke sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, pulling JJ's hand and guiding her onto his lap. "If it helps, I think his feelings are genuine."

"That doesn't change what he did to Emily. Please don't tell me you are taking his side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side." Hotch reasoned.

"Excuse me, I am still here, you know?"

"Really?" JJ retorted. "I thought you might have ran off again."

"JJ…I am going to do my very best to make this up to Emily. I…I thought what I was doing was for the best. I thought that she would get over me, that she would know that I loved her but that I had my reasons."

Seeing the stress and worry lines on the older profilers face, JJ signed, softening her stance. "You hurt her, Rossi. Emily doesn't open herself up to people…she does whatever she can to protect herself and the one time, and I mean, the one time that she did, she just got it thrown in her face…and maybe you had your reasons, but Emily isn't going to see that. She isn't going to want to see that."

"I need to make her."

"You can't make Emily Prentiss doing anything." JJ laughed. "You should know that."

"I know." David smiled. "The baby…"

"Everything is fine. She's ready." JJ spoke softly. "She's excited, and don't tell her that I profiled her, but I think she feels like she has a piece of you still with her forever."

Nodding, David stood slowly, his heart heavy. "I should probably get going…thank you for…for looking after her.

"Of course." JJ smiled, making her way back to the bedroom.

"Dave?" Hotch questioned, standing too. "Are you coming back?"

"Coming back?"

"To the BAU. Your position is still available." Hotch explained.

"I…do you really think that is the best idea? For Emily?"

"You know as well as I do that Emily thinks of the job first…the position is still available. You never know, you might be able to show Prentiss that you aren't the jerk you appear to be without having to bombarded her apartment."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sorry, I meant to update sooner, but I was completely stuck for ideas and I have also been busy packing up my stuff as I am moving house. I have also had two different stories on my mind. At the moment they aren't getting anywhere fast, but I am trying! (JJ/Rossi one promised for Tracia!) Sorry this chapter is only short!**_

Walking into the BAU bullpen the following morning, David let out a sigh of relief when he found the chairs of his team mates empty, because as much as he knew he had to face them, he knew that he wasn't quite ready for the confrontation just yet.

Moving past the desk of his old lovers desk, his eyes fell towards the silver photo frame that held a grainy black and white image. A grainy black and white image of his child.

Picking up the photo frame slowly in shaky hands, he felt his heart constrict as he took in every detail. That was his son or daughter. His son or daughter that he may never get to know because of his pigheadedness and foolish mistakes.

He had to find a way to make this up to her. To his child.

Setting the photo frame down on the desk, he let his eyes float up to the large window of the BAU briefing room. He could see the team - his team, moving around the small office space. He could see Emily. Her arms gently cradling the bump protecting their child, and even from the distance he was, he could see the dark circles under her eyes, the tiredness in her steps. He knew that that was his fault.

What if something happened to the baby because of him? What if the stress he had caused her put them in danger?

"You know, you can't just stand there all day."

Turning on his heels, David ran his hand down his face. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea, Hotch. Maybe me being there won't be good for Emily. Or the baby. I can tell from here she is exhausted."

"She is eight months pregnant. What do you expect?" Aaron asked, handing Dave the file he was holding.

Taking the file, Dave sighed. "She shouldn't be working. She should be at home resting."

"Well," Aaron drew out. "If you want to tell her that, go ahead. I'll see you at your funeral."

"She should-" Rossi started, only to be interrupted by Hotch.

"Look, if you want to actually stand a change of getting back into Emily's good books, then you need to give her some space. But let her know you are there if she needs you."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Aaron?"

"After the talking to JJ gave me last night? No, but it is worth a try. What is the worse they can do?"

"Put several bullets in me?" Rossi quipped, raising his eyebrow.

"They wouldn't," Aaron sighed. "It wouldn't be worth the paperwork."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Aaron."

"They are going to be pissed, Dave, you can't change they. They are going to be angry, you can't change that either, but what you can do is go in their with your head held high, admit your mistakes and start making it up to them. And you never know, you might show them that you are not as much of an ass as they think you are."

Taking a deep breath, David nodded his head. It was now or never.


	4. Chapter 4

_**I am crap at writing and updating at the moment. Life is absolutely crazy and as far as I can see it, posts will be sporadic at best! But still, I hope that you are enjoying this story. It'll really get into the plot soon!**_

_**A big, BIG thanks to KM for betaering (Is that a word?) this! You really have added something to this story!**_

Walking into the briefing room only moments later, David felt each set of eyes settle on him, the shocked expressions on the faces on the rest of the team told him that they didn't know that he was back. They were all silent. To the point where he was sure that he could hear his heart beat.

And he didn't like it.

He would prefer them to scream or even throw out unsolicited accusations. Even a punch would easier to tolerate than the painful silence that was slowly killing him.

Glancing over he saw Emily. His precious Emily. Shaking his head, he reprimanded himself. _Not his precious Emily any longer. _However he saw it and his heart interpreted it, there she was, huddled in her chair around the briefing room table. Her eyes still red and bloodshot from the tears he knew he had caused her to cry. Shameful tears over him.

_Would he ever stop being an ass? _Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes. He had to do this.

"I know that none of you are happy to see me. In fact I am almost certain that some of you wish that I was dead. I can't explain what caused me to leave, but I can say with certainty that I am not going to be going anywhere again."

Looking at Emily, he sighed. "I know that I have made some - a lot of mistakes…stupid, unforgivable mistakes, but I am here to make it up to each and everyone to you." _And I will spend. The rest of my life making it up to Emily for what I have done to her. I will do whatever it takes to make this whole thing better, _he vowed silently to himself.

"Well why don't you go and do us all a favour," Derek snapped, moving to stand toe to toe with Dave, "and go and crawl back under whatever rock you just came out from. We don't want you here and we don't need you here."

"Derek…" Emily whispered in protest, but her words did nothing to calm him. Derek was past the point of calming down. _How dare David Rossi come galloping back into the BAU thinking a few words of apology would clear the air and change things back! Emily called Rossi anal-retentive once; little did she know!_

"You don't honestly think you can make it up to Emily by quoting a Hallmark card? Because if you do, I have news for you, you can't and more so, I won't let you. I won't let you break her down again, you son of a bitch."

"Derek," Emily spoke a little louder, resting her hand on his arm. "Don't. He isn't worth getting yourself suspended. I need you here. The baby needs you."

Shaking off his anger, Derek looked at his partner "Em, I won't let him hurt you." Sitting down beside her, he rested his hand on her bump and smiled softly. He was rewarded with a hard kick. "Either of you."

"He won't," Emily argued, never meeting Dave's eyes. "He can't. I have already lived through the worst pain in my life. He can't do anything more to me." If David Rossi could pretend that she was invisible for nearly a year, she could more than return the favour.

"Em-" David started only to be faced with Emily's hand.

"Don't, Rossi. You said all you had to say last night and so did I. You are back on the team, fine. I can be civil for the time that we have to work together, but that is it. That is the end of our relationship, so please do not try anything, because it won't work." Turning her swollen body, Emily half smiled at JJ. "Do we have a case?"

"Umm," JJ stuttered uncharacteristically. "Yes. Alexandria, Virginia. Five women have disappeared over the past three weeks. Each was found seventy two hours after the initial abduction, buried in shallow graves along the Potomac River."

"Five women in three weeks and we are only hearing about this now?" Hotch questioned, glancing at the case file.

"He dumped the bodies in different jurisdictions along the river so no one connected the victim." JJ clicked the PowerPoint presentation and enhanced the crime scenes for better visual.

"How were they killed?" Reid questioned.

"Asphyxiation, it doesn't appear that any of the women were assaulted, sexually or physically."

"So we don't know what he does to them when he has them?" Emily asked, rubbing a soothing hand over the bump of her child.

"No bruises. No ligature marks. Other than the fact that their windpipe was crushed, we have no idea. "

"Okay, since it is local we will take the SUV's. We'll leave in twenty minutes." Watching as everyone stood, Hotch called after one in particular. "Prentiss; I need a word with you, please."

Turning, Emily sighed. "Hotch?"

"If you want to sit this one out, both the team and I will understand." He explained softly, he knew that this was a touchy subject.

"Hotch, I'm fine." Emily argued.

"I know that, but regardless, you are nearly full term in your pregnancy, and your maternity leave starts in just under ten days; no one would think any less of you. Or you could work out of Quantico for this one. I am sure Garcia would love having you here."

"I can't Hotch. I need to do this case. I need to see if I can work on the same team as…otherwise…" She paused and then continued. "Otherwise there is no way I will be able to come back. I need to know that I can do this…otherwise I have no place in this team. This is _his_ team. He has been a part of the BAU much longer than I have…"

"Prentiss…Emily…I don't measure someone's value to this team by the year that they joined the BAU. You are as much of a member of this team as he is. You worked damn hard to get where you are. And the team needs you."

"Thanks Hotch." Emily smiled softly.

"I mean it, Emily. I'm not just saying it because I don't want to lose you as an agent, either. I don't want to lose you as a friend either."

Wiping the tears that were forming in her eyes, she laid her hand on his arm. "I know that you don't usually go for touchy feely, and all that mushy crap, but I really couldn't have got through the last few months without you and JJ. And well…" Emily absently rubbed the bump that was her child, and looked up at him seriously. "She is going to need that kind of example in her life. I am hoping that you will be her godfather."

"I would be honoured to." Hotch smiled, squeezing her shoulder. "And as my first god fatherly duty, I think you need to know that Dave is sorry. He never meant to hurt you the way that he did, and he knows that he made a mistake and he is going to have to get on his hands and knees and grovel to you. He does want to make it up to you."

Tears burned in the corner of her eyes. _Damn pregnancy hormones. _"I don't think he can, Hotch; I don't think I could ever put any trust in him again."

"I know it will be difficult, but I think you have to give him a chance. If not for you, then for the child you created together." Picking up his copy of the file, Hotch made his way out of the briefing room. "Go freshen up; I'll see you down at the cars. Just think about what I said."

Emily nodded and watched Hotch walk away. Wiping the stray tears from her cheeks, Emily took in a shuddered breath. Stepping out of the conference room, she walked toward the ladies room and opened the door. At this point in her pregnancy it seemed her bladder was always full - as were her tear ducts. One she had control over, the other could be her failing.

And she would be damned if she let David Rossi catch her failing.


	5. Chapter 5

This isn't a chapter, I am sorry. I would like to point everyone towards.

http : / / www . petitiononline. com /cmwomen /petition. html

Remove the spaces. We are not letting our ladies go without a fight!


	6. Chapter 6

_**I just want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who helped in the campaign to get AJ and Paget back on CM full time. Although it didn't work completely how we wanted, we can't be sad. Paget is back pretty much for the whole season, and AJ is going to go onto bigger and better things. And best of all, they both know that us fans are behind them 200%.**_

_**I would also like to send a HUGE thank you out to KM. Without her input on this chapter it would have just been a mess!**_

Looking across from the driver's seat, David sighed. So far they had been in the car for forty-five minutes and Emily hadn't so much as uttered a single word. He still couldn't quite believe that she'd had agreed to go with him. When Hotch first suggested that he and Emily would interview the potential witness of the first murder, Dave was sure that she would have refused, but now, here she was sitting just inches away from him. _So near, and yet, so far. _

"Em-"

"Don't, Rossi. I meant what I said back at the BAU; the extent of our relationship is as work colleagues. That's all."

Sighing deeply, David knew he was going to have to up his game if he stood the slightest chance of gaining her trust back. "Well…as a work colleague, may I ask how you are?"

"I am fine, thank you," Emily answered evenly, her tone standoffish.

"And...and the baby?" David asked, his tone softening at the mere mention of his child. "I know you don't want to talk to me about this...but, is there anything that I need to know? Anything I need to do?"

"No." Turning in her seat to face him, Emily realised that he was being sincere. "She's okay. There is nothing that you need to know."

"Should you really be in the field?" He questioned, genuinely concerned about her safety. "Maybe you should have stayed back at the station."

"I'm fine," Emily repeated. "We are interviewing a victim, not going in on a take down. I don't need you telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing. If you're so concerned about my safety then you shouldn't have left in the first place!" Her words had just enough bite to cause Dave to wince.

"Emily, I'm sorry…"

"You can save your apologies and just give it a rest." Releasing her seat belt as the car came to a stop, she fumbled for the lock and opened the door. "We have a job to do."

Watching Emily climb out of the car, David mentally cursed himself. _Well done. Ruin everything again! _Following the path Emily had taken just moments before, David hoped that this case was over soon so he could get home and grovel to Emily on his own turf. As the front door swung open, David lengthened his pace and was quickly at her side. He wasn'' sure what it was, but his protective instinct suddenly kicked into high gear. Subtly he moved in closer not only to give Emily a bit of security, but to let the man on the other side know that Dave meant business.

"Michael Jones?" Seeing the man nod, Emily flashed her badge. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Prentiss; this is Supervisory Special Agent Rossi of the FBI. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions in regard to the attack you reported witnessing?"

Looking over Emily's shoulder, Michael gave Rossi a quick once over before opening the door wider to let them in. "Come in." Leading them through the living room, he offered them the couch. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Coffee would be great." Dave smiled, sitting down next to Emily. He turned to look at her. "Umm, can you have coffee?"

"Coffee is fine."

Dave looked around at the quaint living conditions. Maybe it was his years as a field agent, but something felt out of place. The symmetry of the room seemed off centre. He tried to sense if Emily had the same vibe, but picked up nothing. Usually it was his gut giving the warnings, but now the hair on the back of his neck was rising.

He shook his head. Maybe he was just overreacting because of Emily, the baby, and the whole situation. No matter, he hoped she didn't spend too long on the questioning so they could get back to the BAU. Something just didn't feel right.

Emily rubbed her belly and leaned back against the cushions. The baby was kicking up a storm -as if she sensed her daddy was nearby. And for a brief moment, when Em turned her head and caught Dave looking at her -the same look he had given her that made her heart and body fall into bed with him- she almost asked if he wanted to feel the baby move. It was on the tip of her tongue when Michael returned to the room.

"Here you are agents; hot and fresh. I wasn't sure how you took it, so I left it black. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Taking the cup when it was offered, Emily smiled. "Thank you Mr Jones. Now, can you tell me what you remember from that night?"

Sitting back slightly, Dave took a sip of his drink and let Emily take the lead in the interview. He loved watching her work. He always had. Emily had a way with witnesses that seemed almost text book. He wasn'' sure if that was because people were caught off guard by the fact that there was a steel spine hidden beneath her classic beauty or that she had been raised mostly in the Middle East and learned to disregard chauvinistic mentalities to get straight to the point. Either way, she was definitely doing a job on the witness as she responded to his initial report with specific in depth questions that had him and Dave flummoxed for answers.

Dave listened as Emily grilled Michael about the time of the attack and his role. It dawned on him that Emily had really come into her own since he had left the BAU and it wasn't going to be as easy to grovel as he had planned. As the questioning went on, he realized he was going to have to change his game plan if he was to have any chance at winning her back.

Through with having to swallow the radioactive waste called coffee, Dave set the cup on the end table. He realised that he should be having a bigger role in the questioning, but as he watched her, everything started to go fuzzy around the edges. Emily's voice started to fade into the distance. Was he under water?

"Em…" he whispered, his hand reaching for hers as he struggled to blink back the bright yellow spots that danced in his vision.

"Rossi? Rossi, are you okay?" Emily asked. Standing up, she took in his pale complexion. Her earlier anger forgotten, she felt his clammy skin and checked his pupils. "Speak to me, David!" she commanded.

Looking up, Dave tried to say something but could only watch helplessly as their witness walked up behind Emily and covered her mouth.

Unable to fight against whatever evil was paralyzing his body, Dave hoped that the love of his life and child would put up a better fight than he had.

Then his world went dark.


	7. Chapter 7

_**This chapter kicked my butt. Truly and utterly, if it wasn't for the fabulous KM (check out her stories – flashpenguin) dragging it back from the brink of despair, I don't think it would have ever got finished! Hopefully the next chapter will come easier than this one! Anyway, enough of me, enjoy!**_

**********

Groaning in pain, David tried to open his eyes as he fought his way through the fog that permeated his brain. _Where was he?_ Taking a deep breath, he did his best to recall something - anything. God, his head hurt.

Slowly his mind cleared as he remembered questioning the witness -who was now their primary suspect. He remembered feeling ill and hearing Emily call to him. Then his world fading in to dark, and his Emily faded away with it.

Sucking in a deep breath, David felt his heart constrict as the memory of Emily darted to the forefront of his mind. Emily. Oh god, what had happened to her? If something had happened to her and his daughter, he knew he would never be able to forgive himself.

Forcing his eyes fully open, he strained his eyes in the dark room and tried to make out something, anything. "Em!" Dave called out as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He fought off the wave of nausea which threatened to overwhelm him. Swallowing hard, he took a deep breath.

"Em! Are you here? Please, answer me Cara," he called again; this time using the endearment he called her when they used to make love. The memory of her being in his arms, constricted his heart, but he counted on the term rousing her anger.

As if answering his prayers, a soft moan reached his ears. His eyes fully adjusted to the dark, Dave made out a heap near the far wall. Crawling over to it, he hesitantly touched and found it to be a warm body.

"Emily?" Taking her hand into his, he immediately felt the relief flood through him as he found her pulse. "Emily, sweetheart, I need you to open your eyes."

"Dave?" Emily answered softly, her eyes opening slowly in a bid to adjust to the light conditions as a horrible pain invaded her brain. Gently she tried to push herself up. "Don't call me Cara."

Dave sighed with relief. She was angry at him which meant she was okay. "Stay down, Em…did he hurt you?" Dave asked, worriedly as he quickly checked her over for injuries.

"Just my head, but I'll be fine." She closed her eyes to block out the spinning room.

Dave blindly touched Emily's head. Pulling his fingers back, he felt something warm and sticky. Blood. She was bleeding. Reaching down, he ripped off a piece of his shirt and pressed it against the wound.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked, as his first aid training came back. It was possible that Emily had a concussion and she needed to stay awake.

"We are still in the house. From what I can tell he built a false wall..." Running her hand through her hair, Emily winced as he applied pressure to the rapidly forming bump on her head. This couldn't be happening.

"Em, I need to know: did you drink any of that coffee he offered us?"

She shook her head. "No, it smelled nasty. I'm surprised you drank it."

"Because I'm not pregnant," he replied wryly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I read once that a woman's sense of smell is heightened during pregnancy; it has something to do with survival and protecting the fetus."

"That's pretty chauvinistic," Em snapped.

"Perhaps, but it saved your life woman. It's a good thing you didn't drink it. God only knows what kind of drug he used." Dave pulled the cloth away and checked the wound. Still bleeding. "I think you might have a concussion and I need you to stay awake."

"So, you're going to talk to me." It wasn't a question.

"I think this is as good a time as any to clear the air."

"We have nothing to say to one another." Emily reached down and touched her belly. Holding her breath, she waited to feel the familiar movements she had come to enjoy. A small flutter darted under her hand. Fighting back a sob, Emily sent up a small prayer of thanks.

"What's wrong Em? Is it the baby?" Dave asked with concern.

"I knew something was wrong, but I ignored it. I turned my back on him. I should have fought him…I should have done something," she whispered.

"No," David spoke softly. "You did the right thing, Emily. You couldn't risk anything happening to the baby."

"It's already happening! We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, and the only person who knows where we are is a psychopathic serial killer!" Emily cried. Damn these hormones, she cursed. She tried so hard to put up a strong front for David Rossi to show him that she could survive without him. And she had.

Until the moment her life was in danger, and she crumpled, unable to defend herself and her baby. Now here she lay on a cold, damp floor with a concussion, and the man she tried to tell herself she didn't need was holding her head and rendering her comfort. It was almost too much to take.

Suddenly, her stomach roiled. Sitting up quickly, she put a hand to her lips as an alkaline taste filled her mouth. Great! If this day hadn't already gotten off to a rousing start, she was about to really embarrass herself in front of Dave. She tried to push him away.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to get out of here. Let me go," Em pleaded.

"The team knows we are here. They'll find us." Dave reasoned.

"It could be too late by then."

Then, without warning, Emily leaned over and lost her breakfast.


	8. Chapter 8

_**I'm not sure how, but I managed to get another chapter done relatively quickly. I'll try to get another one done in the next few days - but no promises! I did want to ask you all what YOU think should happen next? **_****

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Emptying her stomach, she leaned her face against the cool cinderblock wall and closed her eyes. That was the last time Emily ate tuna salad for breakfast. Or for that matter, anything with the word salad she vowed.

"Oh Cara." David winced as he lent forward to sweep Emily's hair out of her face, while fighting the urge to run his hand soothingly down her back.

"Don't touch me!" Emily snapped as she turned dark, angry eyes on him. "And I said do not call me Cara!"

Wincing again, Dave sighed. "I'm sorry, Em. For everything that has happened over the last few months. I am truly sorry."

"I know that you are," Emily whispered after a moment's silence. "And I know that you never intentionally meant to hurt me, but-"

"But," David interrupted. "You can't change how you feel."

"No, and I don't know if I will ever be able too." Running her hand over the bump of her – no, their daughter, Emily smiled as she felt another flutter of movement. "You should have come to me, David. You should have told me. You should have explained. I wouldn't have stopped you if you had still wanted to leave after that. At least I would have had some answers. I wouldn't have had to spend months worrying that you were going to end up in some ditch somewhere or in one of our case files!"

"Em, I'm-"

"Stop saying that you are sorry! That doesn't change anything!" Taking a deep, steadying breath, Emily looked around her surroundings. Windowless, dark, and airless-like hell without the fire and brimstone. Of all the ways she had imagined dying on the job, a dark, dank room behind a false wall had never entered her thoughts. But neither had the possibility of dying alongside Dave.

Her heart constricted painfully. She knew that he could never justify why he hurt her, but why not hear him out? This could be their last conversation and she needed some sort of closure. "Why did you come back?"

David paused to search for the right words to try and make her understand. But how could he possibly explain it to her when he didn't understand himself? So he made an excuse.

"I missed you. I missed you more than you could ever know. I had to see that you were getting on with your life. You don't have to believe me, but I really thought what I was doing was for the best."

"For who?" Emily questioned knowing he successfully dodged her question. She knew the who and that really wasn't important any longer; it was the why that had nagged her and kept her up at nights.

"For you…and for me too I guess. I couldn't stand the thought of you leaving me." Looking away from her, David ran his hand down his face. "Once you knew the truth…about Emma, about me…I thought that you wouldn't want to be with me. I did what I thought was right…"

"I would never have left you for being in love with someone years ago. But you took the coward's way out and ran away. I thought you were better than that but I guess I was wrong."

"I know," David admitted softly as he watched a stray tear escape from her eye. It took everything in him not to reach out and sweep it from her cheek.

"I think I knew that all along I just didn't want to admit it. I still love you, Em. I never stopped loving you. The whole reason I did this was because I loved you. I know it was stupid. Not a day goes by that I don't regret my decision. Every day. But I told myself that what I was doing was best for you…"

"Stop," Emily hissed. "Just stop. I don't want to listen to your excuses. The only person's interests you were looking after were your own. If you had given me more than a second thought then you would have known that I would want you no matter what! I loved you! For God's sake, I-" Stopping mid rant, Emily grabbed her stomach and gasped.

"Emily? Are you okay? Are you in pain?" Dave asked frantically. "Talk to me."

"I'm fine. She just got a good kick in my ribs." It took a second for Emily to catch her breath. Gently rubbing the spot, she wondered if the baby had been listening and was warning her not to be too hard on her Daddy. Great, now she had the baby siding with Dave.

Watching his eyes soften at just the mention of their child, Emily felt her heart defrost slightly, despite herself. "Would you…would you like to feel?"

"You'd let me?" David questioned, surprised.

"Well, seeing as our chances of getting out of her alive are pretty slim, I don't think I could deny you that," she asked, her voice shaking slightly as the reality of their situation began to sink in.

"Don't talk like that, Emily; we will get out of here. I'll get you out of her; you and her."

Nodding her head half-heartedly, Emily took his hand, guiding it to just under her ribs. Watching his face, she memorized the moment he felt his daughter for the first time.

"Amazing, isn't it? I still remember the first time I felt her…it was like it was yesterday."

"I…Em, that's just…wow." Taking a deep breath, David took her hand into his. "I…I know that you can't trust me…but I want to be in my daughter's life. Please. If I can't share yours, let me share hers. Don't cut me out because you can't forgive me."

"Dave-" Her response was cut off by the door swinging open.

"Well, well, well." A deep voice boomed from behind them. Walking over to them, Jones dragged Emily to her feet, before casting a firm look at David. "Me and the Mrs. are going to have some fun, that's okay, right?"


	9. Chapter 9

_**Can I just say how great KM (aka flashpenguin) is? Without her this chapter would have literally been about 300 words long! Anyway, I hope you like it! P.s. Please don't kill us for not finding out what is happening to Emily!**_

**********

Flipping the file shut, JJ checked her watch for the fifth time that minute as she sighed. Dave and Emily left the station hours ago. Even with the drive to and from the victim's house, they should have been back hours ago. They would have at least made contact with the team to tell them if they had found anything.

It wasn't like either of them to stay out of contact with the team for so long. Especially Emily since she entered the last stages of her pregnancy she had to periodically check in with the team.

Slipping her Blackberry out of her pocket, JJ felt her heart drop when there were no message alerts from the members in question. Hitting speed dial two, JJ felt the phone to her ear and waited.

'_Hello, you've reached Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss. I can't take your call at the moment but please leave your name, number and a detailed message and I will get straight back to you.' _"Hey, Em, it's JJ. Call me when you get this, okay? I'm starting to worry."

Putting her phone back into her pocket, JJ pushed herself up from the desk. Maybe she was overreacting, but something didn't sit right with her. And the last time she ignored that feeling, Reid had been abducted and tortured.

Exiting her small office, JJ crossed the bullpen to where Hotch was standing, staring at the white board. "Hotch?"

Turning on his heels, Hotch nodded his head slightly. "JJ? Have you found something?"

"No…" JJ trailed off, running her hand through her hair. "It's nothing to do with the case."

"Then what is it?" Hotch asked, suddenly concerned.

"Emily and Dave still aren't back."

Pulling back, he looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"I tried Emily's phone and it went directly to voice mail. I'm a little concerned because technically she's on a half day work schedule. She was supposed to have gone home after this interview."

"Have you tried to call her home phone?" Hotch asked, as he pulled out his phone and dialed Dave's number.

'_You have reached the voice mail of Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. I cannot answer your call at this moment. Please leave your name and number. If this is an emergency, please contact me at…" _ Hotch ended the call.

"What is it?" JJ asked. She didn't like the look he was giving her - the same look he had when Elle was shot.

Hotch took a moment to pause and consider the information. He had two agents potentially missing and he shouldn't make a big deal of it, but he knew that with one of them in the last stages of pregnancy anything could have happened. And with the witness's residence being a forty-five minute drive, there could have been a couple of restroom stops along the way.

On the other hand, Dave _never_ turned off his phone.

Walking over to a junior agent, Hotch tapped him on the shoulder. "Agent McCarty, I need you to drive over to these two residences and see if anyone is there." Hotch quickly wrote down Dave and Emily's addresses. "I want you to call me the moment you find anything out. Do _not_ wait until you get back. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Agent Hotchner. Should I take someone with me?" McCarty replied on full alert.

Hotch thought about Elle. "Yes. Agent Prentiss is in the last stages of pregnancy. If something has happened, the she may need help."

The agent quick-stepped out of the bullpen. Hotch turned back to JJ. "Have you contacted the hospitals?"

"That was next on my agenda." She turned around and started to walk away, then stopped and looked back at Hotch. "Hotch, you don't think…" She couldn't speak aloud what she was thinking or feeling.

Hotch shook his head. "I don't know."

JJ thought it over and nodded. "I'll check the hospitals and have Garcia try to locate their cell phones."

"That's a good idea."

Hotch watched her walk away. Emitting a sigh, he tried to not to think of what might have happened to his two colleagues. Dave was a good man to have in a fight. And pregnant or not, Emily was even better.

He walked off to find Morgan and Reid.

Gathered around the BAU conference table, the remaining team members waited for Hotch to arrive.

Breezing thru the door, they saw the look on his face and knew it was not good news.

Flipping the phone closed, Hotch announced: "That was Agent McCarty. He has just arrived at Dave's house and found nothing."

"What about Prentiss?" Morgan asked. Only this morning he had noticed how uncomfortable Emily was around Dave's presence, but she waved off his objections. He should have tried harder to voice what he felt about his former co-worker.

"There was no answer at her house, either."

"What about the hospitals?" Morgan tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, but he was worried.

"Funny you should ask that," Garcia announced as her face came onto the computer screen.

"Baby girl, you had better have some good news for me," Morgan demanded.

"Actually it isn't good news and it isn't bad news. I checked all the area hospitals and she hasn't checked in. I had them put her name in the computer and red flag it should she arrive. That's the good news." She took a quick breath before continuing.

"The bad news is that both of their cell phones are off so I can't ping them for a GPS location."

"Emily never turns her phone or her Blackberry off. Not since that scare four months ago," JJ reminded them.

"What about the SUV, Garcia? Have you located it?"

"Yes, Boss, I have…it's…that can't be right."

"What is it Garcia?" Hotch demanded.

"I have it in an empty field about ten miles from their last coordinates. That was the witness's residence."

"Do you have anything on our witness?" Hotch inquired.

"No Boss. I'm still looking though. There are lots of red tape and sealed files to go through. If anything flags, I will let you know."

"Thanks Garcia." Hotch ended the transmission. "Reid, I am going to need you to locate all the possible places Dave and Emily could have stopped on that route. It's a forty-five minute drive and she has a bladder the size of a pea."

"What about me?" JJ asked.

"I need you to stay here and brief Strauss. And to make sure they don't come wandering in. Something has happened and we need to find out what."

"Something has happened," Morgan muttered.

"Care to share that with the rest of us, Agent Morgan?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, sir, I would. I said something _has _happened. You knew that teaming her with Rossi was a recipe for disaster yet you did it anyway."

"Are you implying that I may have had something to do with this?"

"I'm saying that you knew that they had had a relationship in the past and he walked out on her and this job, only to walk back in all these months later as though he did nothing wrong."

"There had better be a point to this tirade Morgan," Hotch warned.

"Damn right there is a point. You teamed her up with her ex-lover and the father of her unborn child. You had no right."

"She requested it."

"Pregnant women make stupid choices."

"Hey now!" JJ objected and stood up from her chair. "Care to rephrase that Captain?"

Arms crossed, a deadly look was shooting from his eyes, as Hotch coldly stated, "Yes, Morgan, I am with JJ; care to rephrase that statement?"

"I meant that the woman was overwhelmed by hormones, feelings, and emotions. She wasn't thinking straight. Dave walked out on her and the team and came back just in time to try and claim his prize. If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is." He tried to calm down. "All I'm saying is that you should have held her back or sent one of us to go with her today."

"Are you saying that I made a wrong call as Unit Chief?" Hotch stared at Morgan who returned it back in ten-fold.

"I'm saying you made an error in judgment by pairing those two together."

For a long second the room crackled with electricity and animosity. Ducking his head, Morgan reconsidered his outburst.

"Hotch, I'm sorry."

"No, Morgan, what you said was correct. I wanted to see if I could put those two together and work out what ever differences they were having before the baby arrived."

"So, now what?" Morgan asked.

"You and I are going together to see if we can find the witness and get some questions answered." Gathering his jacket, Hotch slipped it on. "JJ, call me the moment Garcia finds anything out."

"Yes sir."

Turning to his team leader, he asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes sir."

"Is the air between us clear?"

"Yes sir, I believe it is."

"Good." Hotch started to leave the room and stopped. "JJ, brief Strauss and tell her that I will call with an update in exactly one hour."

JJ rushed out of the room ahead of Morgan and Hotch. Quietly the pair made their way to the lift and down to the parking area. Slipping inside the cab, Hotch started the engine and looked at Morgan.

"Do you really think I was wrong to team those two?"

Morgan gave it some thought. "Honestly, yes. But for all practical purposes, they are still FBI agents and if anything has happened to Prentiss, Dave is the man that I would want by her side. Maybe she doesn't know it or maybe she doesn't care, but the man is still in love with her and would lay his life down for her and the baby in a minute."

Hotch put the SUV in gear and backed out of the space. "That's what I thought."

Shifting to drive, he hit the gas and they were on their way.


	10. Chapter 10

"How are we going to do this?" Morgan asked warily as Hotch parked the SUV down the street from the witness's house. He really couldn't afford to piss Hotch off after how he had reacted this morning.

"We go in soft. We'll enquire if they have been here, and take it from there," Hotch answered, releasing his seat belt.

"We _know_ they have been here," Morgan protested.

"We do, but he doesn't know that," Hotch explained.

"You think he is involved?"

"I think it is too much of a coincidence that their last location was his residence before the SUV turned up in the field abandoned. Neither Rossi or Prentiss would go quietly, so if something had happened in the field, someone would have seen."

Nodding, Morgan released his seat belt. "You don't think they are…"

"I don't think anything until I have proof." Getting out of the car, Hotch walked directly to the front door of Michael Jones. He didn't have time to waste. Knocking straight away, Hotch felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was definitely wrong.

Knocking again, this time more aggressively, Hotch waited.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Get your hands off her." David hissed as he fought to get to his feet. He couldn't let this happen. Not to his Emily. Not so long as he lived and breathed.

"Oh, is she yours?" Jones snarled, moving to trace his finger down Emily's cheek. "She is such a pretty thing." He laughed, running his hand down Emily's arm until he reached the bump of Emily's stomach. "I bet she's good."

"Don't touch her!" David snapped, lunging for Jones. At the last second Dave stopped as Jones wrapped his hand around her throat and lifted her feet off the ground.

Steadying his grip on Emily as he tightened his hand, Jones shook his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Try anything, and she's gone."

"If you hurt her, I will kill you."

Laughing without humour, Jones smiled. "Not if I kill you first. Now, like I said, me and the lady are going to have some fun." Turning to drag Emily out of the small room, Jones stopped abruptly at the sharp knock of the front door. Sighing deeply, he looked towards the door, shoving Emily so she landed in a heap at his feet. "Saved by the bell, but don't worry, we will pick up where we left off later.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Michael Jones?" Not waiting for Jones to answer, Hotch flashed his badge. "I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner, with the FBI. This is Agent Morgan. We have some questions, can we come in?"

"Umm, sure." Jones stuttered, opening the door wider. "What seems to be the problem?"

Morgan stepped in first and made a clean sweep of the room while Hotch sized up the witness turned possible perpetrator. There was no denying Michael Jones was nervous, but over what remained to be seen. Knowing that Hotch had control over the situation, Morgan moved to the kitchen.

"May I get a drink of water?" Morgan asked. Jones nodded his head.

"Sure." Turning to Hotch he asked, "Would you like a seat?"

"No thank you. Two of my agents were supposed to come out here to interview you about how the attack you witnessed, and whether it could be linked to one of our ongoing cases. My Agents have failed to return, and their car was found abandoned around ten miles from this address. It is incredibly important that we locate them as soon as possible. Did they arrive to interview you?"

Letting out a deep breath, Jones shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and shook his head. "I'm sorry Agent Hotchner, but until you showed up I had no idea that you had questions to ask me."

"You are absolutely sure?" Morgan asked, making his presence known. His sharp eyes had picked out things most people including potential Unsubs usually missed. The clues were subtle but they were there, now he had to make sure not to alert Michael Jones.

"I'm sure that I would remember if two Agents came to ask me questions about one of the worst things I have ever witnessed," Jones muttered, looking towards the floor. "I wish that I could help you."

Hotch glanced at Morgan who nodded slightly. That was their cue. "Well, thank you very much for your time, Mr. Jones. We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience that we have caused you."

"It's fine, Agent Hotchner, and if they turn up here, I'll be sure to tell them that you are looking for them."

"Thank you." Hotch smiled politely as he shook Jones' hand. Taking one last look around the small house, Hotch's eyes caught sight of the Blackberry discarded in the corner of the room. Following Morgan out of the house, he sighed.

"Hotch, man, you saw it right?"

Nodding his head, Hotch ran his hand down his face. "I saw it. It's Emily's." Catching movement behind the curtains, Hotch lowered his voice. "Keep walking toward the car. What did you find in the kitchen?"

"Two cups in the dish drain recently rinsed out. I also noticed the table was out of line with the marks on the floor; like it had been moved recently."

"The main room didn't appear to be out of order."

"You think he found a way to overpower Rossi to get to Emily? How?"

"It was subtle. Rossi wouldn't have gone down without a fight. And from what I could see there was no signs of a struggle. Whatever he did, he got to Dave first and then took Emily."

Morgan's expression went from concerned to furious. "Then we go in there and get them! Prentiss and the baby could be in danger!"

Hotch stepped into the SUV and started it. "Get inside Morgan." Once the door was closed, he put the car in drive and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Morgan demanded. "We can't leave them."

"We don't even know if they are there. If he overpowered Dave to get to Emily…" Hotch couldn't bear to imagine the worst case scenario. "We can't do anything to trigger him to snap and hurt them if they are in the house." Over Morgan's mutterings, Hotch pulled around the corner of the street and parked. Then he hit two numbers.

"JJ, I need you to contact the authorities and have them go to the location Rossi's SUV was located. No, it's just a precaution. Has there been any news from the local hospitals? I understand. Have Garcia send the coordinates to me and tell a patrol car to do a drive by of Michael Jones's residence. Yes, I guess we need to contact the director. I will call her myself."

Hitting end, he looked at Morgan. "Get Reid on the line and brain-storm everything you know about our Unsub so we can have a window to how much time we might have before he does anything to harm Emily."

"Hotch-"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to Emily and the baby. You have my word."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sending a big thanks to KM for working her magic on this chapter! Seriously, you rock!**_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"Em?" David whispered as he crouched down in front of Emily. "Come on, Emily, say something."

"I'm fine… Oh God!" Gasping, Emily doubled over in pain, fighting for breath as she wrapped her arms tightly around the bump of their child.

"Emily!" David demanded, wrapping his arms around her waist as he tried to move her into a more comfortable position. "I need you to tell me where it hurts."

"My…back…stomach…" Pushing the breath she was holding out slowly, Emily looked up at David with terrified eyes. "The baby…I don't feel good."

"The baby will be fine." David promised as he ran his hand up and down Emily's back. "Just keep breathing. That's good. Nice deep breaths."

"Dave…" Emily whispered as the pain slowly lessened.

"Shhh, I said that everything is going to be okay, and it will. Worrying about something that you can't change is not going to help," David soothed convincingly, even though he was anything but calm. Smoothing her hair down, he tried to keep her focused on him and not the pain. "We need to move over to the chair; do you think you can stand?"

"I think so…"

Slipping his arm back around her waist, David helped her stand slowly. "We'll just take it slowly." But before they had even taken five steps, Emily doubled over in pain. "Emily!"

"No. No, no; this isn't happening." Emily declared as she shook her head. "No. Not now. Not here."

"Emily?"

Looking up at him, her face full of fear, Emily spoke the words that would haunt him forever. Even if he lived to be a thousand years old. "I think I'm in labour."

"What?" David squeaked. "Are you sure? It could be a false alarm."

"Dave…"

"No, Em. Not today. Sorry, take that back!"

Glaring up at him, Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Take it back? She was pretty sure that wasn't something she could do. "Do you really think I would have let this happen if I had any control over it?"

"Sorry…I…" Running his hand over his face, Dave took a deep breath. He had to keep calm. "I didn't mean that…I meant are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure." Emily gasped again, grabbing David's hand and squeezing, as the pain of another contraction ripped through her.

"Breathe, Em. Breathe."

"What the hell do you think I am trying to do?"

"Sorry." Moving to pace the small room, he sighed. "We've got to get out of here."

"Well, no shit Sherlock!" Emily snapped as the contraction released its grip.

"No, I mean we don't have time to wait for the team; we have to get out of here now." Pacing more, Dave mused. "The team will know that we are missing by now. For all we know that was them upstairs. They won't stop until they have found you."

"And you, David. No matter what has happened, the team loves you. You have to know that."

"I do, but right now, I'm not important. You are. You and her."

"Thanks, but being the martyr right now isn't going to stop this baby from coming and the bad guy from trying to kill us…hopefully in that order," Emily mused as she felt her body start to calm down. Running her hands over her belly, she let out her breath in a relieved sigh.

"Are you okay?" Dave asked as he brushed her sweaty bangs back from her clammy forehead.

"Yeah. I think that was false alarm. Between the stress and the tuna salad I had this morning…"

"Tell me you did not eat tuna salad for breakfast!" Dave bit out. "No wonder you lost your lunch and your stomach is tied in knots."

"Actually, I despise tuna, but your daughter seems to crave it a lot. I didn't have much choice when she gets in a demanding mood."

Dave stroked Emily's brow with his thumb. "Reminds me of someone I know," he mused.

"Yeah, her father."

"Hey! I was going to say…"

"You'd better not say her mother if you know what's good for you."

Dave bit his lip. "I plead the fifth, but only because you wouldn't hesitate to drop that baby on my feet."

"Damn right. Ooof!" Emily gasped. "Not nice!" she reprimanded her belly.

"Another contraction?"

"No. Your daughter kicked me again. I think she doesn't like me being mean to you."

"I think I love her already."

"Dave…"

"Why not? I mean I did have a hand in creating her, didn't I? And the last words I remember you saying before I left were that I was an arrogant, egotistical, narcissist with a flair for the dramatic."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Stop that!" Dave snapped.

"What?"

"Pretending to forgive me because our lives are in danger."

"Actually, I never said that I forgave you. All I said was that I was sorry for shouting those words."

"Okay. That clears the air." Hesitantly, Dave reached down and rubbed Emily's belly. "Do you mind?"

"I'm okay. That feels good."

For a long while they sat in silence as Dave rubbed Emily's belly to help relieve her stress. And for a moment, they forgot what had led them to this point in their lives.

"Em?"

"Mmmm, what?" Emily could barely concentrate on anything but the wonderful sensation of Dave's gentle knowing hands caressing her stomach.

"I was wondering if you've picked out names yet."

"No I haven't. I was going to wait until she arrived to decide on a name. Although I am leaning toward Spencer Jennifer Morganne Rossi."

"You're kidding me! Spencer Rossi?" Dave asked incredulously.

"Or there's Erin Rossi," she mused.

"Oh hell no!"

"I'm sorry but it's the only other alternate spelling of the male Aaron."

"I understand the team is a family, but may I ask why you chose those names?"

Emily paused. What could she tell him? That names really hadn't crossed her mind because she had a fantasy of Dave helping pick out the name for their daughter, but when he left her high and dry she stopped thinking about names because she was upset about having to put anything with 'Rossi'. Over time she put names out of her mind as she lost herself in the job.

"Because I owe them," Em whispered. "Four months ago we were on a stake-out and I went into premature labour. Morgan stayed by my bed for two days while they monitored me. For the whole month I was on light duty, Jen drove me to my appointments."

"What about Spencer?"

"I have always liked that name."

Dave got quiet. "Honestly, me too. But tell me you won't name our daughter Morgan. I don't know if Derek will be able to handle me addressing your daughter by his name. The man really hates me."

"You can't blame him. You left me high and dry without so much as a forwarding address. The team took me in when I found out I was pregnant and protected me. Then you come traipsing back into my life all these months later and of course they are going to be suspicious."

"I guess that makes sense."

Em sighed. "Morgan's not only my best friend, but my Lamaze coach."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. You think he's protective of me now, wait until we're in the labour room."

"I'll stay in the waiting room and pass out cigars."

"That might be one of your wisest moves." Em closed her eyes and let out a little groan. "Can I get you to rub the small of my back?"

Dave moved his hands around. "Right there?" At her response, he increased the pressure. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I don't know. Everything's calmed down and it's been fifteen minutes since the last contraction. It could have been a false alarm."

Dave leaned down toward Em's stomach and spoke aloud to his daughter. "You hear me Piccola? You stay right where you are; Daddy isn't going anywhere."

"Dave…"

"I meant it Cara; I'm not going anywhere. Maybe we can't be friends but we can be parents to our little girl." Dave stopped rubbing. "I'm sorry Em; I know what you said about calling you that name. I forgot."

"That's okay. Dave, what are you going to do when he comes back?"

"I don't know. They teach us a lot at The Academy but I can't remember anything like this coming up on the schedule."

"Write a book about it."

"I might." He rubbed her stomach again. "Feel better?"

"I could let you do that all night," Emily murmured. She was so tired and his hands felt so good, and despite all that had happened between them, there was still a little part of her that loved him.

"Em, there is something I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for not telling you about Emma and my feelings for her. I'm sorry for being a coward and leaving you without telling you what was in my mind. I could have contacted you or Hotch during that time, but I… No! I have no excuse for hurting you."

"Good. At least now you're being honest with yourself. Maybe there is hope for you after all."

Dave stopped rubbing. Something was wrong. Actually two things were wrong: Michael Jones hadn't come back in quite some time. That wasn't such a bad thing because it gave him time to formulate a plan. But the second thing worried him because there was nothing he could do to stop it if it was true. Running his hands over Em's stomach one more time he paid closer attention.

Oh crap! Rock hard. This isn't happening. Brushing her hair back, he watched her face as he memorized the peaceful, tranquil look of her features. God, he loved her so much and he would lay his life down for her and the baby in a heartbeat. Now he had to break the bad news to her.

"Cara. I know how you feel about that name, but listen to me: you're in labour."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Only one or two more chapters after this! Anyway, a big, big thanks to KM. You seriously rock! And Junealii for the wonderful quip!**_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Pacing the length of his living room, Michael Jones scrubbed his hand down his face. There is no way this could be happening. This was not what he had planned. It wasn't as if he had set out to abduct two FBI Agents. If they hadn't come around poking their noses in his business, then he wouldn't be in this situation. What other choice did he have? They were getting too close. Yes. It was their fault.

He knew he should have disposed of the male agent along with the vehicle, but what choice did he have at the time? It had taken everything he had to pull both of them down to the cellar and then try to clean up. He hadn't been expecting the female agent to put up such a fight. Especially since she was pregnant.

Now, what was he supposed to do?

It wasn't as if he could just let them go.

It was possible that the two agents investigating the duo's disappearance hadn't noticed his nervousness, but he couldn't take that risk. He had to get rid of the two agents before their boss came back with more questions.

Going into the kitchen, he looked around for anything out of place. It all looked good. Okay, there were two cups in the drain, but that didn't seem suspicious. Or did it? His brain whirled like mad, as he tried to put himself in the one agent's shoes.

Walking back out in the main room, he saw a car drive by the house. Surprised, he opened the front door and stepped out on the porch. A patrol car.

Shit! It had to be coincidence, didn't it? However, what were the odds that after two Federal agents show up, a police car drive by the house? This was not good.

He had to get rid of them. There was no other option. Even if the other FBI Agents didn't suspect him now, should they came back again they definitely would. All they needed was a search warrant and he was done.

The guy has to go first. He would put up too much of a fight if he tried to take the woman. Yes, he had to get rid of them. Dump them as far away from his house as possible.

There was no way they could tie them back to him after that was there?

Walking to the cupboard in the corner of the room, Jones pulled out a pair of flex cuffs. Closing the door, his eyes fell to an object discarded in the corner. Bending down, Jones picked the small black object up. A Blackberry. He could remember the female agent typing away when he was talking. No. The bad situation just got ten times worse! There is no way that two fully train FBI agents would have missed that. He had no choice. He had to move, and he had to move now.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Excuse me?" Emily stuttered. Her mouth dropped open as she tried to respond.

"You're in labour Em." Dave repeated, looking her straight in the eye.

"No I'm not, remember? We decided it was just a false alarm!"

"Sweetheart, I've been through this with my sisters, you are definitely in labour." Watching the tears pool in Emily's eyes, Dave felt his heart drop. "Emily…"

"This can't happen here, Dave." Emily whispered, gripping Dave's hand in hers. "I'm scared…I can't have her here…"

"I know you are, Cara, but this is happening. And Emily, we are going to be out of here before you even have to worry about having her here, okay?"

Nodding her head, Emily lent her body fully into Dave's as another contraction worked its way through her body. Holding her breath, Emily bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. "I can't do this."

"Of course you can. You're the strongest woman that I know. You handled me at the end of the day. You just have to remember to breathe; you can't hold your breath." Kissing her forehead gently, he eased his arm around her as he moved the chair into the furthest corner of the room. "I need you to stay here, okay? Don't go trying to play the hero because it won't work."

"Dave-" Emily interrupted.

"Do I need to make that an order?"

Glaring up at him, Emily shrugged out of David's grip, moving to sit on the chair. "I'm not doing this because you told me to. I am doing this for my daughter. Our daughter."

"That's fine by me."

Looking towards the door as he heard movement on the other side, David took a deep breath to brace himself. "Just stay back. We'll be out of here soon." One last look at the woman he loved, Dave felt his heart squeeze painfully. "I love you Cara. No matter what happened or will happen, I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you."

"Dave-" Em bit her lip and fought back the tears that threatened to spill.

He gave her a wistful smile. "I know; I called you Cara." Squaring his shoulders, he stepped up on the stairs and tried the door. It was unlocked. Pulling gently, there was a slight tug and then the door gave way. It was too late to turn back. Adrenaline pumping, Dave pulled it all the way open and stepped out.

XXXXXX

Morgan sat in the patrol car as it made another pass by Michael Jones's house. The fact that the only suspect in the murder of three women and the disappearance of two FBI agents stepped out on the porch to watch was not lost on the attentive and alert agent.

"Did you see that?" Morgan asked the fresh faced police officer.

"See what sir?"

"He went back inside." Morgan called Hotch. "Hotch? What did they find? I figured Jones would clean out the SUV. He stepped out on the porch during the first pass by. I was thinking one more. What is taking so long to get a search warrant? Well, I'm going to do one more pass and then I'm going in. I don't care; Strauss can fire me. Tell her that!" Morgan flipped the phone shut.

"One more pass?" the police officer asked.

"Yes." Morgan might be FBI but his gut was still one of a Chicago cop. Something was wrong, and he was going to make it right.

XXXXXXXXXX

Dave took a cautious step out into the kitchen. Glancing around, he noticed the coast was clear. However, the hairs on the back of his neck were still standing at attention.

One foot in front of another, Dave crept along the wall to the door way. Looking into the main room, he did a quick search. Clear. He almost released his breath, but he didn't dare. Not until Emily and the baby were safe would he be able to relax. Making his way over to the back door, he tried the knob. Locked!

They had to get out of- His thoughts were halted as his head snapped to the side and he fell to the floor. Shaking his head, Dave tried to clear the stars dancing in front of his eyes. Michael Jones! Shit! Keeping his eye on the board in his attacker's hand, Dave tried to get to his feet. Sizing up possible weak points, Dave launched himself.

Both men fell to the floor in a flurry of fists and arms as each tried to get the upper hand. Jones might have had agility and speed on his side, but Dave had experience and the will to protect his unborn daughter to fuel the desire to live.

It was unlike any fight Dave had ever been in because this one involved more than his life. Repeatedly he punched at Jones who gave back twice as hard. Dave felt his head snap back as he took a sucker punch to the jaw. His eye was swelling and he tasted the blood from his split lip on his tongue. His face was on fire but he wouldn't give up.

Blindly he swung and delivered a blow to his attacker's solar plexus. He heard Jones gasp and fall to the ground. Rubbing his vision clear, Dave tried to get up, but felt his knee give out. Oh, crap! Of all the times to blow out his knee… Fighting back the pain, he gripped the table for support. He had to get out of there.

Too late.

Jones got his second wind and came back twice as strong. Throwing Dave against the wall, he wrapped his hands around Dave's throat and squeezed.

Dave's hands clawed and scratched as he felt himself suffocating. Yellow and orange bursts of light danced in his vision as the black edges grew bigger and wider. He was dying. He had failed Emily and the baby. God, forgive him for not being stronger for Emily. Please protect Emily and the baby, he thought as the air was cut off…

He barely heard the first pop, but he felt the second as the hands around his throat went slack. Now he couldn't see because of the blood on his face. Out of breath, gasping for air, Dave slid down the wall, sat on the floor, and wondered if he was dead.

Suddenly hands were on his shoulders shaking him.

"Rossi! Are you okay? Talk to me you son of a bitch!" Morgan shouted.

"Hello to you too Derek."

"Are you hurt?"

"I'll survive. Help me up." Dave held out his hand to his former partner. Shakily he stood and looked at the lifeless body of the suspect on the kitchen floor. "You picked a hell of a time to get a head shot."

"I was aiming for yours, but he got in the way," Morgan quipped.

"Maybe next time." Dave wiped his coat sleeve across his eyes.

"Where is Emily?" Morgan demanded.

"In the cellar. She's in labour; we have to get her out of here."

Morgan ran down the steps to his partner. Gathering her in his arms, he held her tight. "We got him Princess. Let's get you out of here."

Gasping from another contraction, Emily tried to stand. Suddenly a rush of water drenched her feet. "Morgan, my water just broke. Oh God!" She doubled over. "The baby is coming."

Picking her up in strong capable arms, Morgan hurried them out of the dank, dark cellar. "Rossi!" Derek shouted. "Get my phone out of my pocket and call Hotch."

Dave didn't need a second urging. Pressing the numbers, he quickly relayed the situation to Hotch and that the baby was coming. He didn't wait for the Unit Chief to reply as he flipped the phone shut and hurried to catch up with Morgan and Emily.

Out on the porch, Morgan set Emily on her feet. Immediately she was overwhelmed by a contraction that nearly tore her body in two. Gripping tightly to Morgan's hand, Emily tried not to scream as she remembered Dave's words to breathe. But it hurt so much. Sinking down, she squatted as she tried to let gravity do most of the work.

"Breathe Em," Morgan encouraged as Emily's nails buried into his palm. He fought the urge to cuss as pain ripped through his hand. "Come on, you have to stand up. Dave! Help me stand her up." Dave reached under Emily's arm and pulled her to her feet. Sounds of sirens filled the air.

A black SUV screeched to a stop near the curb. Jumping out, Hotch rushed over to his agents. "How is she?"

"Over all she's okay, but this baby is coming," Dave offered. "I don't think we're going to make it to the hospital."

"We're going to have to use the SUV," Morgan suggested. "Hotch; pop the back so I can lay her down."

Not one to argue, Hotch did as Morgan ordered. As he watched Morgan and Dave lay Emily down on the carpeted floor, he dialed Garcia and filled her in. Quickly he was patched through to Strauss who was informed that the BAU team was going to increase by one very shortly.

Screaming from another contraction, Emily tried to find something to focus on as she breathed through another life-altering vise that threatened to squeeze the life out of her body. She needed to push. Where were Morgan and Dave? She went to ask as another contraction hit and she fought the urge to bear down.

"I don't care if you are the baby's father, you aren't going anywhere near her!" Morgan growled to Dave.

"Have you ever delivered a baby?" Dave asked. "I have. Besides, you're her coach, she needs you."

"This woman has been my responsibility since the day you walked out."

"Yeah, well, I'm back now. And that is my daughter about to enter the world."

"If you go near them, I will shoot you and this time I won't miss," Morgan threatened.

Just as the two men were about to come to blows, Emily's voice called out "Personally, I don't care who shoots who, but would you hurry and get it over with so one of you can deliver this baby?"

Guiltily the two men looked at one another as they rushed over to her. Climbing in the back, Morgan knelt beside Emily and held her hand.

"I'm sorry Princess," he apologized and tried to position her against his body for leverage.

"Guess I won't be naming her after you," Emily quipped.

"Hotch," Dave called out, "I need your jacket and a shoelace." Taking the jacket, he threw it over Emily's knees for privacy as he checked on the baby. Oh, crap! She was crowning. Pulling back, Dave took a deep breath. "Em? The baby is crowning. I need you to take a deep breath and on the next contraction, I want you to push as though your life depends on it. Do you understand?"

"I guess so." A contraction started and Emily tried not to scream as she put everything she had into her push. Morgan held her and helped her through the contraction. Breathless, he let her lean against him as he brushed her hair from her face.

"That was good Em," Dave encouraged. "The head is out. I'm going to need you to give a good push to get the shoulders out."

"It hurts," Emily sobbed.

"I know. Give me another push. Derek, help her." Together they pushed to get the shoulders out. In the distance, more sirens filled the air. Exhausted, Emily closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I can't do this. I changed my mind," Emily cried as another contraction hit. Breathing through it, she clung to Morgan's hands. "I changed my mind."

Morgan gave her a look full of love and sympathy. "It's too late to turn back now Princess; the baby is almost here."

Dave helped pull the shoulder of his daughter out. Almost there. "Okay Em, she's almost here. I need one more push. Give it everything you have."

"I can't."

"Yes you can. You can do this."

"You put me here."

"Yes, I did."

"This is your fault. I hate you."

"That's great," Dave agreed. "But I still need you to push. Give me a push Cara."

Fire shot out of Emily's eyes as she got her second wind. "I told you not to call me Cara!"

"That's it Princess," Morgan cheered, "Get angry at him!"

The contraction hit hard and fast and Emily gathered herself to put everything into the final push.

"Come on Em! Come on! She's almost here! You can do it!"

"I hate you!" Emily screamed as she felt her body being ripped in two.

"I know you do. Keep pushing!" Suddenly Dave's hands were catching his daughter as she slid from her mother's body. Quickly he ran a finger in her mouth to clear away any mucous and turned her over to deliver a firm swat. A quick cough and then the angry wails of Baby Girl Rossi filled the air.

Hotch came over with the shoelace. Measuring six inches along the cord, he tied knot. Looking at Dave, he took the baby as Dave struggled out of his coat and wrapped it around the baby.

"Is she okay?" Emily asked.

"She's perfect," Dave assured. Two paramedics ran to the SUV to take over the situation and helped clean the baby up as Dave tended to Emily.

"What are they doing?"

"Just cleaning her up, Cara." Dave winced as the word slipped out. "I'm sorry. That won't happen again."

"Can I see her?"

Dave turned to the EMT. "May I?" he asked, as the baby was assessed and quickly swaddled. As the baby was handed to him, Dave looked into her face and felt his heart fill with love. She was beautiful and perfect. And his. His and Emily's.

Leaning into the SUV, Dave handed the baby to Morgan who handed her to Emily. Gently Emily stroked the baby's head. It was all too unreal, but strangely it felt normal. Leaning against Morgan, while Dave held her hand, Emily relished in the moment.

Hotch ducked his head inside. "Dave? Morgan? They need to move Emily and the baby."

Handing the baby back to Dave, Emily looked at all three men. "Thank you."

No words were needed as the men smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

_**KM - You rock my socks! 'Nough said**_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Stopping outside Emily's hospital room, David glared down at the crutches the hospital had assigned him until his knee healed, they sounded much too noisy in the otherwise quite hospital corridor. Would he wake up the babies?

Knocking on the door lightly, David poked his head through the door, his heart warming at the sight. Emily was tucked up in the oversized hospital bed, their daughter gently cradled in her arms as she sang quietly too her.

Emily looked up and smiled. "Hi Dave."

"Hello Em. I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop by and see how you two were doing." He glanced at the room full of flowers and stuffed toys. "I see she already has gotten visitors."

"The team was by earlier with presents. One thing is for sure: she won't need stuffed animals for quite a while."

Dave looked at the huge bear in a Chicago Bears jersey occupying one of the free chairs near the window. "Garcia?"

"Actually, it was Morgan. He vowed that there is no way his goddaughter is growing up a New York Jets fan."

Dave winced. That was a definite swipe at his being from Commack. "Joe Namath or Walter Payton…it's all good, so long as she isn't a Cowboys fan." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

Emily saw his sweat covered forehead and the way his hands shook trying to hold the crutches. Shifting her body she tried to make room for him. "Please Dave, have a seat."

"Thanks." Dave sat down and leaned the crutches against the chair. Silently he watched Emily with the baby. "I can't get over how beautiful she is."

Looking up from the sleeping baby in her arms, Emily smiled. "I keep thinking that if I take my eyes off her for more than a second she is going to disappear." Smoothing down her daughter's dark hair, Emily took a deep breath. "Dave…I need to ask you something."

Taking his daughter's tiny hand into his, David smiled. "You can ask me anything."

"Did you mean what you said?"

"About what?" David questioned, looking up at Emily.

"About wanting to be her dad. Regardless of what happens between us."

"I did," David answered sincerely. "I want to be a part of her life."

Nodding her head, Emily smiled. "Would you like to hold her?"

Dave swallowed hard. "Umm, Em, I don't know…"

Gently she held the baby out to him. "Go ahead; she won't break." Biting her lip, Em fought to control the tears as she watched Dave cradle their newborn daughter in his hands. She knew first hand how gentle and soothing his big hands could be and had no doubt that the baby was safe and secure.

Dave took in the features of the baby that he had helped deliver. She was so perfect, so beautiful, so amazing that Dave had to catch his breath as he brushed back a lock of black hair from her forehead. "She looks like you."

"She has your nose," Emily commented.

Dave traced the little button on the baby's face. "Nothing wrong with that, is there piccola? If you had to get something from me it may as well be my nose, considering you got your mama's temper."

"David Rossi!" Emily protested.

"Cara, I hate to be the one to remind you, but the only thing that prevented you from carrying out your threat to kick my ass was that you were busy having a baby." Concentrating on the baby's facial expressions, his heart squeezed as he watched her little mouth making a sucking motion.

A smile tugged at her mouth. "I think I recall saying something that might have given you that idea."

"Idea? The only reason I'm sitting here without a bullet proof vest is because I know they don't allow guns in hospitals."

"Very funny." Emily looked down at her hands, and then at Dave. "I want to thank you for saving us. I know that I was angry at you for what happened, and you had every reason to walk away, but you didn't and I don't know how I can ever pay you back."

"Emily, no matter what happened between us, there is no way I would ever hold that against you to keep from doing the right thing. You and the baby are the two most important things in my life and I would have laid my life down in a minute to keep the both of you safe." He stroked the baby's cheek and felt the tears fall.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked worriedly.

"This. Her. I can't believe that I helped create this perfect little human. And then I turned around and walked away. I could live to be a hundred and never be able to make up for all the wrongs I've done to you and her."

"Dave…"

Dave shook his head. "Hear me out. Please. I'm a player. There's no easy way to sugar coat the truth. I've done my fair share of screwing around and using women. Hence the three marriages and my reputation at the FBI. But I know what it was: I was chasing after a childhood fantasy."

"Emma," Emily whispered as her heart began to hurt.

"Emma," Dave confirmed. "I fell in love with her when we were kids. She was perfect in my eyes. Beautiful, smart, Italian… she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But she didn't want me. She tried to explain her feelings, but I kept hoping she would change her mind. So, I joined the Marines. Then the FBI. I thought that maybe she would notice my achievements and come back. But she never did. So, I got married to exorcise her memory."

"That sounds normal."

"Three times?"

Emily shrugged her should and gave him a half-smile. "So you like to go to extremes."

"In the real world that would be the definition of the word insanity. But it doesn't matter because every woman I married or slept with was just a substitute for her." He watched Emily's face. "Until you."

"That's comforting."

"That's the truth."

"That's why you ran away." It wasn't a question.

Dave sighed. "Emily…"

"Don't 'Emily' me," she replied, her voice quavering. "I tried to love you. Even when I felt you pulling away from me, I kept hoping that every time you made love to me, or touched me, you would see me and not her. And for one moment I came really close to winning you over. Then _she_ had to go and die and take everything noble and loving, and caring about you with her into her grave. Leaving me with a man who decided to live in the past and kick me to the curb."

"I'm so-" Dave began. This was not how he envisioned their talk, but perhaps it was safer because he knew Em would kill him as long as he held the baby.

Emily held up her hand. "If you say you're sorry, so help me I will shoot you. Hear me out. You owe me and your daughter that much. I hate Emma. I don't even know her, but I hate her with every fiber of my being. She destroyed you and ruined you for every woman who may have had a chance to get close to you. But more than I hate her, I hate you for letting yourself go down this road. You sacrificed everything to live in the past. You hurt me so badly."

Dave tried to speak but couldn't find the words. Emily had not only hit the nail on the head, but she had read him like a book.

Emily wiped the tears from her cheeks. "But you came back. I know it wasn't because of the baby because no one would have spilled that secret. So I have to think it's because you realized you made a mistake. But Dave Rossi doesn't make mistakes, right?"

"More than you'll ever know," Dave gently rocked the fussing baby.

"Tell me that you don't think it was a mistake coming back and saving our lives. Tell me that it wasn't a mistake to love you…to still love you. Tell me it's not a mistake to let you be a part of our daughter's life. And last but not least, I want you to tell me that the love we shared and created was not a mistake."

Dave reached out and touched Emily's cheek. With his thumb he brushed the stray tear away. "She is _not_ and will _never _be a mistake. She is the product of my love for you. Emily, I would never consider coming back and saving your lives a mistake. I would never consider you a mistake, and there is no way, and I would ever be able to consider our love a mistake." Looking down at his daughter as her eyes fluttered open, he smiled softly. "If I were to call us a mistake, then she would be too, and I will never let our daughter believe that. If I could do over the last few months again, would I? I'm not going to dishonest Em; I think I would have still left. But I would have gone about it differently. Being away, I was finally able to lay Emma to rest. It showed me what I have, and for the first time for as long as I can remember, I can finally look towards the future. And that future has both of you in it. I need you in it Em."

Lifting her eyes, Emily looked towards the man she loved, and their daughter. "I think I believe you."

"I don't want you to think, I want you to know that I mean everything with my whole heart Emily. I'll move heaven and earth to make you see that. Every day of my life will be spent righting the wrongs I committed against you and my last breath will be professing my love for you." He was crying and trying not to hide it. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve. He was being everything she knew he really was deep down inside. And she still loved him.

Nodding her head softly, Emily stared at Dave with a look she had given him so many times before. Her eyes giving away nothing of what she was truly feeling. "Dave, I've decided on a name for her."


	14. Chapter 14

Walking in to the BAU bullpen a few days later, Emily smiled as her newborn daughter was immediately snatched from her arms by the eager hands of Derek Morgan, as he started talking to the baby in a hushed voice.

"Hello Emily, how are you? Oh I'm fine Derek, thanks for asking," Emily teasingly mocked.

"What?" Derek asked smiling as he pulled Emily into a hug. "How are you, Princess?"

Rolling her eyes, Emily let out an exasperated laugh. "I'm fine thank you, Derek."

Pulling out his desk chair, he pushed Emily towards it. "Sit. You shouldn't be on your feet."

"I had a baby, Derek; women have been doing in for millions of years. I'm pretty sure I'm safe to stand. Last time I checked, childbirth was not a debilitating condition."

"You had a traumatic birth after an even more traumatic couple of days so you need to rest, so sit."

"You should listen to him, Emily." A deep voice ordered from behind her.

Watching as Derek tightened his hold on the baby, Emily turned to face Dave. "Hey," she greeted warmly. It was obvious that whatever tension had been between them a week ago was long gone.

"Hey," David smiled softly, moving forward towards Emily, as he ushered her into the seat. "I didn't know you were coming in today."

Smiling, Emily gently caressed her daughters' sock covered foot. "We were going a little stir crazy being stuck in the house all day. And Pen actually threatened kidnap if she didn't get to see the baby soon, so I thought as I kind of enjoy having my daughter, this was the easier option. And it would avoid a potential felony charge against our technical analyst."

"Smart move." Holding his hands out hesitantly, David asked. "May I hold her?"

"Ye-"

"No." Morgan snapped, his hold on the baby becoming ever tighter. "You can keep the hell away from her."

"Derek…" Emily sighed. She had really hoped that the two men would have called a truce after coming together to help deliver the newest member of the BAU team. But from the dark looks the men were exchanging that her hope had just flown out the window of the top floor of the BAU headquarters.

"No, Em. He needs to hear this," Derek ordered then turned his attention to the senior agent. "You can stay the hell away from Emily and the baby. If I catch you _anywhere_ near them, I swear to God I will not be responsible for my actions. Why don't you just do us all a favour, get out of her life and crawl back under that rock you appeared from. None of us want you here, and we can give this baby a better life then you ever could!"

"Look, Derek," Dave started, trying his best to keep his temper in control. "You don't like me, but she is my daughter and I am going to be in her life, and nothing you can say or do is going to change that, so unless _you _would like to get out of her life, you better get over your problem with me. Fast."

Turning to Emily, Morgan placed the baby in her arms. "Em, I'm sorry." Spinning quickly, Morgan fist connected with Dave's face before anyone knew what was happening.

"Derek!" Emily exclaimed before turning her attention to Dave. "Dave?"

"He punched me!" Dave exclaimed, holding his nose. He tried to blink back the sudden tears of pain that filled his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked softly, shifting the baby in her arms, before standing to cup Dave's cheek. "Move your hand and let me see." Examining Dave's face, Emily stood back. "Doesn't look like there is any permanent damage." Holding out the baby, Emily asked. "Can you take her?"

Taking the baby out of Emily arms, David took a step back as he saw the fire in her eyes. "I think we better stand back here, sweetheart," He cooed to his daughter.

Spinning on her heels, Emily stood toe to toe with Morgan. "What the _hell_ do you think you are doing?"

"I'm putting that no good son of a bitch in his place! He doesn't deserve either of you. I'm taking the educated choice!"

"It wasn't your choice to make!" Taking a deep breath, Emily steadied herself. "Derek, you have been great to me over the past few months. You brought me out of the dark when I didn't even think I could go on, but Dave is right; he _is_ her father and whether you like it or not _she_ deserves to have her dad in her life. I thought I was going to die, Derek. I thought my _daughter _was going to be murdered before she even got the chance to live, but Dave got us out of there. _He saved us._ So he's right; he is going to be in her life. Either you get on with it, or you turn away now." Sighing, Emily ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't want to have to choose, but if it came to it, for my daughter, I have to choose him."

"Emily…" Derek pleaded for her to understand.

"You're my best friend Derek; _please_ tell me that you can get past this."

Glaring at Dave, Morgan pulled Emily into his arms. "If he hurts either of you again, I _will_ kill him," he growled for her ears alone.

Nodding, Emily smiled into his shoulder. "And I won't stop you."

Releasing Emily from the hug, he looked at David. "I still don't like you."

Rocking his daughter in his arms, David nodded. "That's fine, but for what it matters, I don't plan on hurting either of them again."

"I'll remember that you said that." Morgan promised. "Everyone is waiting in the briefing room for you. And I should warn you, the original Baby Girl has been shopping."

"I can't say I expected anything less." Motioning to Dave, she followed him towards the briefing room.

A small crowd had gathered to greet Emily and the baby. As Emily was swept up in hugs by co-workers, the baby was snatched from her arms and passed around. It seemed that the voices asked a hundred questions and for a moment Emily felt overwhelmed.

The touch of a familiar hand on her elbow made her look up. Dave. With a nod of his head he led her to a chair and got her something to drink.

"Thank you," she whispered while keeping an eye on the baby who was now being held by JJ.

At that moment, Garcia made her debut. In her arms were plenty of colorful bags stuffed with brightly wrapped presents contained within. The minute she walked through the door, she spotted the baby in JJ's arms. Handing the bags to Derek, she rushed over.

"Give me that baby!" she squealed. Snatching her up, Garcia started rocking her and talking to her. "How are you, my beautiful still nameless baby girl Rossi?" She looked up at Emily. "Her last name _is_ Rossi, right?" At Emily's nod she continued. "Well, it's good to know that your parents decided on your last name; now we have to get them to give you a good name to go with it. We can't keep calling you 'baby girl'…though that does work for me, but it's different when Derek says it."

The baby cooed her response. Garcia felt a tear run down her cheek. "I vote for Angel or Precious as her name."

Dave shifted his weight on his cane. "Well, Kitten, Emily and I…"

Garcia looked down at the beautiful dark haired angel in her arms. "I'll tell you what; if your parents don't give you a name today, you are coming home with me. I refused to let you marry Henry without a name."

JJ spoke up. "When did this happen?"

Emily smiled widely. "Yeah, when did my daughter get betrothed?"

"Since five minutes after she arrived," Garcia declared. "Everything is set but the renting of the banquet hall for the reception."

Hotch looked at the little group. "So, did you guys decide on a name?"

"Actually Emily did." He looked at her. "Want to tell them, Cara?"

The room went quiet as Emily took a deep breath and announced: "Emma Rose Rossi."

The quiet room went even quieter. Everyone knew who Emma was and to hear her name was not just a shock but surprise.

Hotch was the first one to speak up. "Emma?"

Dave nodded. "It was Emily's choice. She felt that no matter what happened between us, ultimately it was Emma who brought us together."

"For that, I wanted to honour her. And to show there are no hard feelings," Emily finished. Emma began fussing and Derek took her from Garcia. The crowd in the room remained speechless.

"I've also decided that I want to make Jen her godmother. I figure if we're going to be in-laws in the future, we may as well get a start on it now."

JJ started crying. "Thank you."

The people in the room started murmuring among themselves. Nudging Dave, Emily told him: "Isn't there something else you wanted to say?"

Running his hand over his swollen nose, he leveled a gaze at Derek. "I struggled with this decision for a couple of days and no matter what my head told me, my heart and gut disagreed. I am not going to lie that I had my doubts...until back in the bullpen. I didn't think you really had Emily's and my daughter's best interests at heart...until you punched me. You saved my life and you defended theirs. And I know that I can trust my family's life in your hands. That is why I want you to be Emma's godfather."

Derek felt his cheeks go warm as he rocked his goddaughter. "Yeah? Well, don't think that bestowing that title on me means that I won't kick your ass if it's warranted. It just means that I'll consider all sides of the story before I kick your ass. Deal?"

"Deal," Dave agreed and shook Derek's free hand.

"And if you _even_ entertain the thought of marrying my princess and making an honest woman of her, you are going to have to go through me."

"I can't see it any other way."

"Guys! Guys!" Garcia shouted through her tears. "Picture time!"

"Oh come on Baby Girl," Derek groused.

Garcia smiled widely. "Please? A group photo for Emma's first visit to the BAU." Handing the camera to Kevin, she rushed over to Emily and started primping. Satisfied, she got everyone situated. Boldly she stood Dave and Derek side by side with Hotch and Reid on respective sides. Kneeling between JJ and Emily, she looked at Kevin.

"You guys ready?" he asked. "On three say BAU." He adjusted the camera. "One. Two. Three."

"BAU!" the little family remarked as the camera recorded the moment.

And though small and brief, Emma was smiling.

**********

_**The End.**_

First I should start off by explaining the name (as I know a couple will not be happy with it!) Kate and myself have been toying with the name for ages, but we always seemed to come back to Emma. And it seems fitting. They have gone full circle.

I am toying with doing some one-shots in this universe in the future, so let me know what you think! And thank you everyone who reviewed!


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